James Collinsworth

James Collinsworth
1st Chief Justice of Texas
In office
December 16, 1836 – July 11, 1838
Preceded by Inaugural holder
Succeeded by John Birdsall
Republic of Texas Senator from Brazoria District
In office
November 30, 1836 – December 16, 1836
Preceded by Inaugural holder
Succeeded by William Green Hill
Interim Secretary of State of Texas
In office
April 29, 1836 – May 23, 1836
Preceded by Samuel Price Carson
Succeeded by William Houston Jack
Delegate to the Convention of 1836 from Brazoria District
In office
February 1, 1836 – March 17, 1836
United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee
In office
1829–1835
Personal details
Born 1806
Davidson County, Tennessee, U.S.
Died July 11, 1838
Galveston, Texas
Resting place Founders Memorial Cemetery

James Thompson Collinsworth (1806 – July 11, 1838) was an American-born Texian lawyer and political figure in early history of the Republic of Texas. Collinsworth served as a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Texas,[1] and an interim Secretary of State of Texas.[2] Collingsworth County, Texas and Collingsworth Street in Houston, were both posthumously named in his honor.

Prior to his life in Texas, Collinsworth was born in Davidson County, Tennessee, and then served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.

As a candidate during the 1838 Republic of Texas presidential election as the chief opponent to Mirabeau B. Lamar, Collinsworth drowned after jumping from a steamboat into Galveston Bay.[3] His body was taken by boat upstream along Buffalo Bayou to Houston, where he lay in state at the Texas Capitol. He was interred at Founders Memorial Cemetery in Houston.

References

  1. ↑ McDonald Spaw, Patsy, ed. (1990). The Texas Senate: Republic to Civil War, 1836-1861. Texas A&M University Press. p. 18.
  2. ↑ Ericson, Joe E. (June 12, 2010). "Collinsworth, James". The Handbook of Texas. Texas State Historical Association. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  3. ↑ Siegel, Stanley (1956). A Political History of the Texas Republic, 1836-1845. The University of Texas Press. p. 98.


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